— 이곱.
"HEY THERE, NEW neighbor," the familiar voice said idly. the after hours of the sky were streaked with a violent indigo through the midnight blue. he was sitting on his coffee table this time, his legs crossed. scattered around him were crumpled papers; right beside him was an unopened jar of lollipops, and in his hand was a half empty wine glass. it was 10:28pm, and she wondered if the boy had a hard night.
"i think i'm way past new. it's been what, a week?" she said, and jeongguk shrugged.
"true, it's been a week and i still don't know your name," the boy watched her with a smile as he brought the glass to his lips. he looked at her with a sort of iridescence that made surin frown. first, his smile aggravated her, and now, it was his eyes.
sleep deprivation, that was it. that was the answer. that was why her heart swelled when she noticed the moon beams in his eyes and how his adam's apple bobbed as he gulped his wine and how soft his lips looked when he....
"is it so important? can't we just know each other?"
"when we first met, you gave me an impression that you didn't want to know anything about me, but now we know each other?" jeongguk's brows went up in amusement.
"yeah, i guess. i don't find you too annoying," she mumbles, fumbling with the ends of her sweater sleeve.
jeongguk hummed. it was cold, though surin was anything but. maybe she actually came to enjoy his warm presence. was that so bad? for her to enjoy someone else's company other than...
surin's fingernails buried into the palms of her hands. the answer was painfully clear. it came so instinctively, so naturally as so did the heartache. she should leave. she needed to. she needed to never see talk to him more than she was already tempted to. she needed—
"i want to know you better," jeongguk said softly, "plus, its not really fair that you know mine," he added with a chuckle.
"fine, okay," surin sighed. "it's kyong surin."
"kyong surin," he repeated with a smile, and the wine red girl relinquished in how smooth her name had sounded through his mouth. "nice to finally meet you then, surin," the boy gently placed his cup on the coffee table and walked to lean over the right ledge of his balcony.
surin looked at his extended hand that severed the distance between them, heat grazing her ears where chill was supposed to be. surin had always been reserved, but somehow, in this moment—it was different. she knew this feeling, it was at the tip of her tongue. uneasiness? no, it wasn't that. fear? no. embarrassment? not exactly. she mentally shook her head, deciding she'd think about this later.
"please don't leave me hanging here," jeongguk pleaded. when she took her time to consider him, the boy whined, "my arm is getting tired, rin."
"don't call me rin, jeong," surin rolled her eyes, but the two of them knew she was smiling. with hesitance, she took his hand. it was soft, and though his touch was anything but warm in that one, mere second—surin had somehow felt colder the moment they let go.
.
